


Through Caverns Seldom Walked

by FireEye



Category: The Matrix (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, hurt-comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-08 19:08:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20840531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireEye/pseuds/FireEye
Summary: The crew of the Nebuchadnezzar make their way home.





	Through Caverns Seldom Walked

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Doranwen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doranwen/gifts).

_The repair shop had the atmosphere of a facade. Of a dusty old photograph, depicting a long forgotten memory. Trinity led the way inside, while Switch covered their backs._

_A phone was ringing. The sound of their salvation._

_Neo had been moving in a daze. The ringing roused him. He reached it first, reached for it..._

_...and wordlessly offered the receiver to her._

_Trinity wanted to protest._

_But there was something in his eyes. Deep and profound, and strangely innocent that she wanted to look away. Her hand brushed his thumb as she took the receiver._

_The Matrix faded out._

*

Trinity opened her eyes to darkness.

It took her several moments longer to adjust to the waking world. She ran her fingers through her hair, then pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders.

Ever since Neo, everything she knew – or thought she knew – felt as though it had been turned upside down. More so, it even seemed, than having simply been unplugged from the Matrix in the first place.

But there wasn’t much time to dwell on it. Or everything it might have meant.

Not now.

Later, maybe.

Cypher’s betrayal was still bitter on her tongue. She didn’t understand it. Maybe she never would. Losing Mouse had been a harsh blow. Losing Morpheus would have been too much. Losing Neo....

Trinity’s gaze was drawn through the gloom, to where Neo sat apart by himself. Since their escape from the Matrix and the sentinels, Neo had withdrawn into himself, sharing only a sparse few words with Morpheus.

The distance made her heart ache.

But there wasn’t much time for _that_ right now, either.

The Oracle had promised her only that she would love the One. The Oracle had never promised that the One would love her back.

And, prophecy or no, they still needed to survive.

Trinity stood and stretched, then briskly rubbed her arms. The boost to her circulation as she walked the perimeter of their tiny encampment warmed her chilled muscles, and thinking it over kept her calm.

Tank and Dozer had their heads together. Apoc was still sleeping, it seemed. Switch was wide awake – reacting to their predicament with a familiar taciturn restlessness. Morpheus was an exemplar of temperance.

Neo was staring in the direction of the cavernous ceiling, for all that he couldn’t have been able to see it.

They had salvaged what they could from the Nebuchadnezzar. With luck, Zion would be able to recover the ship itself and get her running again. Split between seven, their supplies were limited. All they had was an emergency light to see one another by, with which to illuminate their path. They had an emergency beacon, but at this depth it would more than likely draw down another barrage of sentinels upon them rather than a friendly rescue.

Their only salvation was deep below.

Trinity’s gaze was drawn again to Neo.

Before she could convince herself to check on him, Morpheus – of the same mind, it seemed – had stood and started over.

It was better that he did, Trinity told herself.

*

Subterranean darkness stretched out before them, illuminated only by the lightwand Morpheus carried. Although compact, it was powerful enough to keep them together. Every so often, someone would stumble on the uneven ground, and terrain that could at times be a tumultuous ride in a hovercraft revealed itself to be treacherous to climb over or insurmountable on foot, and they would have to double back.

Still, _on foot_ was preferable to staying with the Nebuchadnezzar. The sentinels that had found them had no doubt also beamed their location back to the rest of the machines before being disabled, and the EMP had destroyed their own systems along with their enemy.

Never mind the damage that the sentinels had done to the craft while Neo was trapped in the Matrix.

Trinity glanced up ahead, to where Neo walked beside Morpheus.

Reminding herself he was safe. At least, as far as any of them were safe.

“How are you holding up?”

Trinity blinked, shaken out of her thoughts. Only from the fact that he had spoken was she abruptly aware that Apoc was striding along beside her. The brothers were still behind her.

And Switch was covering their backs.

As always.

Except Mouse should have been here, antagonizing Dozer. Even Cypher....

Trinity sighed. Her silence spoke volumes.

“Same as the rest of us, huh?” In the dim light she could almost see his tight smile. Not because he was happy, just because there wasn’t much else to it.

“It could have been a whole lot worse,” Trinity said quietly. They could have lost more people. They could have failed to rescue Morpheus.

They could have lost Neo, making everything they’d suffered through to find him nothing.

Let alone how if they had lost him, Trinity felt she would have died inside. She almost felt that way once, seeing him practically lifeless on this side while his mind was fighting the battle of its life.

“That’s one way to think of it. I still feel...” Apoc struggled with it. “Like it’s _wrong_, somehow. Mouse should be here...” He shook his head. “But I don’t think any of us could have predicted Cypher would do something that stupid. I know it’s _Cypher_, but... What the hell was he even trying to _do_?”

Whatever it was, Trinity had stopped him. ...well, Dozer had stopped him – but he wouldn’t have seen it in time if Trinity hadn’t opened her eyes to see Cypher...

He’d been discontent for a long time. Lashing out at anyone and everyone because of it.

Morpheus said they’d failed him.

Trinity knew he was right, but she still felt anger. Resentment.

Like she’d never truly known him.

“I wonder if even the Oracle saw that one coming.”

Trinity swallowed. It only felt slightly better to know they couldn’t have done better, but Apoc’s thinking out loud only echoed her own. “Switch told me she had a feeling about him.”

“Yeah...” Apoc lowered his voice, “If you ask me, Switch doesn’t like being blindsided. Or at least she doesn’t like admitting it.”

Trinity caught herself _almost_ smiling at that. It wasn’t _funny_, given the circumstances, but it was.

Apoc’s voice took on a note of conspiracy. “By the way, Switch told _me_ if Neo doesn’t make good on that kiss, she’s gonna kick his ass.”

At that, Trinity squeaked and choked on a scoff. She gave him a playful shove to the shoulder. Apoc yelped, and shoved back.

They were drawing everyone else’s attention, but she didn’t care. She caught Apoc’s hand, holding it as she let hers drop between them. Surprised, he glanced down, then squeezed her fingers.

He let go, and dropped back without another word.

Up ahead, looking back instead of forward, Neo tripped. He recovered swiftly, but still glanced once more over his shoulder at her. Trinity smiled to herself, and glanced down.

When she looked up again, Switch was striding along silently beside her. And Apoc had taken up the rear.

*

They had been following a power conduit for hours when Switch happened to look back the way they’d come. She shouted, alerting Morpheus – and everyone else – to a red glow reflected off the ceiling the way they had come.

Fortune was on their side, as the distance and enough advance warning gave them time to scramble for a hiding place, which they found in the crevasse behind the conduit. The energy flowing through it would mask their heat and biorhythm signatures.

Trinity bit her lip as she found herself crushed up against Neo. The red glow grew brighter, until she could clearly see the planes of his face. He stared at her, starting as though to speak, and she pressed her fingers to his mouth.

The sentinel hovered over their heads, creeping along its route. She heard someone shift softly beside them, not nearly suspicious enough a sound unto itself that it would give away their presence.

The light – and the sentinel – moved on.

Trinity pulled her hand away, giving Neo as much space as she could in the cramped quarters. Neo licked his lip where her fingers had touched.

“Trinity...”

Whatever he was going to say, he didn’t.

Tank was giving him a look over her shoulder, which he continued doing as – safe as they ever were, now that the danger had passed – Neo abandoned their hiding place.

Ignoring the look that Tank was now giving her, Trinity followed Neo’s back with her gaze as he rejoined Morpheus. After watching them together a moment, she climbed up and out herself, taking the hand Dozer offered her to help her over the conduit after Tank.

The sentinel’s appearance made it obvious how much danger they were still in. Their path would be slower now, more cautious, until they could find a deeper access point. Apoc joined Switch at the rear.

When they stopped for a rest, Dozer gave Trinity a hug.

*

“Um.”

Trinity looked up, trying to ignore the way that her heart leapt at the sound of his voice. She didn’t stifle her smile, because of course he was welcome, she just...

Still didn’t know if he felt the same as she did.

Neo scratched the back of his head, then dropped down beside her. Trinity shrugged to pull the blanket on her shoulders tighter around her as he adjusted his own around himself.

He glanced out into the gloom, away from everyone else. Glancing back, Trinity found Switch staring at them and Apoc pretending not to. Morpheus was ignoring them completely. Tank and Dozer were shadows on the other side of him.

“Look, it’s been kind of a rush since... _everything_, and I just wanted you to know... I...”

Staring at his hands in his lap, Neo twined his fingers together, locking and unlocking them.

“I’m not like, _ignoring _you.”

That seemed to be it at first. He peered at her from under his eyebrows, and Trinity’s mouth quirked.

“Don’t tell me you’re only talking to me because Switch threatened you.”

Neo blinked.

“She didn’t threaten me,” he said. “_Apoc_ threatened me.” At her expression, he hastily added, “He was joking.... at least, I think he was. Switch just said you might think I needed space, but I...” He sighed, deeply. “I didn’t. I don’t. I... I need...”

Again, Trinity tried to ignore that little flutter in her heart. She watched his face, even though at this distance from Morpheus and the lightwand, he was mostly a shadow in the darkness. But she could hear his voice, the tenor of it warming her chest despite the chill.

“I need you,” Neo admitted quietly. “If I ever needed anyone, I need you.”

Trinity gave a little gasp. She inched closer to him, and when he didn’t protest, added her blanket to his. Finagling his own blanket until he could wrap an arm around her side, he kissed her softly, which she only returned equally as gently.

“I love you, too,” he murmured against her forehead.

His warmth staved off the cold, and for the first night since they’d abandoned the Nebuchadnezzar, Trinity didn’t feel the chill. Her heart sang a soft lullaby in tune with the rhythm of Neo’s, and before long she had drifted off to sleep in his arms.

*

Eventually, the tunnels became smaller and more claustrophobic. They might have been able to signal for help, but although no sentinel was likely to find them here, neither could any hovercraft squeeze itself into the smaller spaces.

A short distance behind Morpheus, Neo walked at Trinity’s side. All of them clustered closer together now, in part because of the smaller space, but in part because they – or everyone of them but Neo – knew these tunnels.

Although Switch was still watching their backs, Apoc strode beside her comfortably. Dozer was with them, and Tank ahead with Morpheus.

They came to a door, locked with an access code. Morpheus opened it, and ushered them all through in pairs.

Trinity held Neo’s hand, holding them back for last.

In the cavern beneath them was Zion, the last free human city. Trinity smiled at the wonder on his face.

“Welcome home, Neo.”

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I Matrix'd, myself. And I, too, have complicated feelings about the sequels. Please accept this canon-divergence that assumes Neo got to the phone before Trinity, and Trinity had time to warn the bros. :)


End file.
